I Am Ten Novels & Stories

He gave me a small reassuring smile before walking away, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Hours crawled by. I stared out the window of the waiting room, the city lights blurred by tears I refused to shed. My mind drifted, unbidden to the past. 17 years ago. The storm had been relentless, the rain pounding against the windshield as Mom struggled to see the road ahead. I was only 10 then, strapped into the car seat, my stomach growling. “Aww my dearest, you really must be hungry” she murmured, glancing back at me. “We’re almost home sweetheart”

Their shrieks of laughter mingled with the sizzle of the pancakes and the clinking of mugs. Eight year Lily, Susan’s eldest, was carefully arranging tiny plastic reindeer on the windowsill. Her younger brother, six-year-old Tom, was attempting, with limited success, to build a tower out of pancake batter. Baby Ellie , was gurgling contentedly, clutching a bright red ball. Across the room, Carolyn’s children, ten-year-old Chloe, seven-year-old Ben, and Asher were engaged in a boisterous game of hide-and-seek.

I know I can trust him. Today is my birthday. It's not the usual birthday celebration where there's a party once a month for everyone born that month. Specifically, it's my birthday, the one listed on my birth certificate. Today, I turned ten. Not everyone here knows their age. People like Tim Frost, for example, don't know theirs. How could he, being a foundling? Thinking about Tim makes me very sad. I haven't seen him since he was brought to the hospital. The teacher, Emma Smith, brought me oranges for a long time afterward, though.

* Flashback * It's my 10th birthday and I still have to do the house chores. I learnt how to clean when I turned 8. It was either that or continue to get punishments meant for other pack members. Today is a Saturday, so everyone in the pack is home. As I move from room to room, I can hear all the whispers 'ugly, useless, worthless, fat, slut' and any other demeaning word they could come up with. I could never work out why they insisted on calling me a slut. I was only 10.

He said, pulling his wrist. "Awe! You're so cute! Come on, let's eat cause I'm hungry!" Ten said, ignoring the midget's words but he can't ignore the cuteness of him tho. He decided to lead their way to the stairs, still pulling the latter by his wrist as he talked about him and his toys and how can they be good friends. "We have a bunch of cars and robots here! You can play with it anytime you want! It's so sad here! I don't have a playmate..."

She had a casual and lazy expression as if she was not paying attention to anything. Dew suddenly chuckled. “Please don’t compliment me. Actually, Grade 10 piano is really easy. My sister obtained the Grade 10 certificate when she was a teenager. She’s much better at playing the piano than me.”

We all know that I am 16 this year. ——————— I sit in my room, looking at the things on my table. I am stunned. My head is blank. I know I am nervous. “ May I come in?” My mom knocks on my door. I say, “Yes.” She walks in. “Oh, my poor girl, all human girls at the age of 16 should go to the slave-choosing ceremony today,” Mom says with tears on her face.

Ten. I got to ten but I still felt furious and scared and jealous. Dr. Williams said if ten wasn't enough I should keep counting. So I did. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. I walked to the nursery with Nathan and put him down for his nap. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. I changed his diaper and hummed a song even though my mind was screaming. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty.

I thought you could save yourself…" "You thought?" She cut him off with a mocking laugh. "So you sacrificed me without hesitation." "We were together for ten years," he said, eyes reddened. "You know what kind of man I am. How could I ever want you dead? Are you really going to erase everything between us over this one mistake?" Mabel looked at him with pity and ridicule. "Yes. Ten years. "It took me ten years to finally see clearly. "In your eyes, I was nothing more than a pawn you could sacrifice for the family's interests."

I can't intervene, even if I have knowledge about the topic being discussed. At ten years old, I was sent to a convent boarding school, where I stayed until recently when I turned nineteen. Because of this, I don't have many friends and I'm very shy. My favorite hobbies are reading, music, and dancing, activities where I can be myself without anyone watching. Currently, I'm in my second year of maritime business administration, because my father decided so. My opinion, as always, doesn't matter.